80 degrees temperature

Question
Hi Chris:  I received my female betta from aquariumfis.  They did a great job packing it.  My question to you is:  I want to breed them, but in your last answer you stated not to introduce them until a couple of weeks until I she is fed well and is ready.  I took the plant out of the fish bowl where my male betta lives, so the female betta could see him,  I have her in a vase right in front of the male betta, so he can se e her.  I feed them frozen bine shrimp, and  black worm.  Now, I read in your e-male that the water temperature must be 80 degrees.  I use spring water in a regular fish bowl, how do I get the water to be 80 degrees alwasy.  Should I purchase a theromostat?  Thank you, for your response, and how do I get on your website to tell people that you are very good with your answers and response back to me.  Debra

Answer
Hi Debra;

You will have to set up a 4 or 5 gallon tank so you can have a heater in it. Anything smaller than that is pretty risky to put a heater in. The smallest thermostatically controlled heater is a 25 watt, the size needed for a 4 or 5 gallon. What breeders sometimes do is put the male in the tank and get a glass candle chimney and set it in the tank for the female to stay in until she is ready. This way you can simply lift out the glass for her to join the male when she is conditioned and showing signs of breeding preparedness.

Even when not breeding bettas have to be 78 degrees or higher all the time. A small tank would be a great investment for you to keep them happy. If I didn't already give them to you, here is a list of web sites on bettas and info about breeding them;

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=65271&ck=
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Betta,%20Breeding%20basics.htm
http://www.siamsbestbettas.com/breeding.html
http://www.healthybetta.com/
http://www.bettatalk.com/

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